Why Kenyans are telling off Fox News

Conservative United States television network, Fox News, infuriated Kenyans on social media after appearing to refer to the entire African continent as a “war torn” country.

The broadcaster ran a segment on Wednesday ahead of Pope Francis’ trip to Kenya, as part of his first official visit to the African continent.

During the segment, Fox News ran a trail across the screen written in bold: “Pope Francis to visit war-torn Africa”.

While Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the Central African Republic – beleaguered by a long-running and bitter conflict – he was touching down in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kenyans – and many viewers abroad – quickly spotted the apparent inaccuracies with the hashtag #SomeoneTellFoxNews quickly making it to the top trend.

Social media users said the script was indicative of negative perceptions that western media have of Africa.

This is not the first time that Kenyans have clashed with an international media outlet. When U.S. President Barack Obama visited the country in July, Cable News Network (CNN) called Kenya a ‘hotbed of terror’.

Angered, Kenyans on social media kicked off an online campaign that saw the broadcaster retract their statement.

In August, Tony Maddox, who serves as CNN’s global Executive Vice President and Managing Director, flew to Kenya to personally apologize to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Pope Francis is currently in Kenya for a three-day tour which began Wednesday.